Building Two Classrooms for 700 Rwandan Children

Update From Sanejo & Ntenyo School

By Sarah Schaeffer - Volunteer Coordinator and Founding Member

Hard At Work

June and July have brought change to Ntenyo. Over the last 3 weeks, Sanejo and YGAP volunteers from Rwanda, the US and Australia have been working tirelessly with the community to build an additional 3 classrooms at the Ntenyo primary school, assist the teachers with English-language training and inspire the P6 students to express their emotions creatively through art and theatre.

The classrooms have gone up quickly and this week, less than 4 weeks from the start of construction, sparks will begin flying as the local welder works to fit the tin roofs onto the classrooms. Additionally, a large water tank will be completely installed by the end of the week, allowing the 800 children at the school to finally wash their hands and drink fresh water throughout the school day.

An unexpected impact of the project came last week when Emmanual, one of the long-term bricklayers at the school, pulled David (Sanejo Co-Founder) aside to tell him about the project he was able start at his home since working with Sanejo last year. “I was able to start a pig farm from the money I earned last year,” whispered Emmanual with a slight grin and usual twinkle in his eye. “Look around here,” he said, pointing to the building site, “Many of these people have started project to help their families from the money you paid us.”

A total of 13 returning builders from last year announced that they had been able to increase their annual income because of investments they had made with the savings they were able to put aside from working with Sanejo. Emmanual began his pig farm; another man bought a cow, another bought chickens, and one man even bought a bycicle, which he now uses to taxi people up and down the hills in Ntenyo for a small fee.

As similar stories continue to emerge from Ntenyo community members, it is obvious that the donations given by people all over the world through Global Giving are affecting a lot more people than the 800 (formerly 700) students at the school. Involving the wider community has created a deep sense of pride and ownership that continues to spread throughout the local hills.

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